Such ball-and-socket joints of this type are widely used in mechanical engineering, especially in the automotive industry. Ball and socket joints are often made of a housing part that is generally tubular or cup shaped and includes a bearing shell (race insert) that is positioned within the housing part. Additionally, an end plate is sometimes used to close one end of the structure and a bellows (boot) is used connected to the bearing pin and to the housing at the other end. Other structural parts are provided for sealing connections. These include a boot seal or bellows seal structure that provides a seat for the bellows and provides a sealing function. Some ball and socket joints also include further sealing structures cooperating with the bearing shell or otherwise provided to maintain protection in the region of the ball joint.
A ball-and-socket is known from DE 296 07 587.6 & DE 296 16 350.3. Such ball-and-socket joint has a ball surrounded by a bearing shell which is molded-in-place or cast in place. To create the joint, a joint housing is held fixed in place and a ball portion of a bearing pin is located within the joint housing with the bearing pin being fixedly held in place to maintain location of the ball portion within the joint housing. A material is then molded-in-place (such as by injection molding) or cast in place between the joint housing and ball portion thus forming the bearing shell.
Prior art constructions have proven quite effective in use. However, most designs require significant numbers of manufacturing steps and some sophisticated designs are quite labor-intensive with regard to manufacturing.